Roland Boer's Blog, page 59

Australia – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Committee in Pyongyang

Among the many intriguing delights of Pyongyang is the Juche friendship wall:

Plaques from nearly every country in the world represent the various Juche study groups and DPRK friendship groups. I even managed to find one from Australia:

Many of the plaques date from the 1970s and 1980s, but a few from more recent times. However, since the Australian one comes from 1976, I thought it was time to update the representation. I gathered the Australians in our group for a photograph:

Xi Jinping rap

Now here’s a new year gift with a difference: a rap video featuring none other than Xi Jinping.

Rough translation:

The Reform Group is Two Years Old

2015

Gotta eye the reform group in 2015

It] pushes economic development and a wealthier society

[It] improves [government] services

[Must] streamline the administration and delegate power to lower levels

[Must] believe in the government

Let hands that should not move stay unmoved, let the market rule

They insist on fighting corruption

They speci...

My new seniors phone

I finally needed a new mobile phone, unlocked so I can use it in different places. And since I feel people can contact me way too much already, I steer clear of anything that smacks of a ‘smart’ phone. But what to do? In the end I opted for a simple seniors phone. It has large keys for potentially arthritic fingers, simple display and very clear and loud sounds. It even calls out the numbers as you are pressing the keys. Oh yes, it joins one of the pocket watches I have had for well on 15 yea...

The China Road: International Conference (save the date)

The website concerning the first China Road conference in the southern hemisphere is now up at the University of Newcastle(screen grab below). This is obviously a notice to save the date and begin thinking about a potential conference paper or panel proposal. More details will be posted as the conference planning develops early in the new year. This is sponsored by none less than the Academy of Marxism within the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

When 19 to 21 Aug...

Denmark proposes to rob refugees of jewellery and cash

Is this a new low in efforts to demonise refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere? The Danish minority government, run by Venstre and supported by the Danish People’s Party, has proposed that the bags and clothes of refugees be searched for money and valuables such as jewellery so as to be confiscated for the ‘cost’ of travelling through Denmark. Mind you, the government has thus far refused to accept refugees, although it generously allows them to travel through Denmark to Sweden. Inde...

More art from the DPRK

Since Pete and I like this type of artwork, which is still very strong in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a few more samples from my visit earlier this year:

Art of the DPRK

I am finally making my way through the many photographs from my visit earlier this year to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea). A sample:

Stalin’s Opinion of Trotsky

We have often heard of Trotskyite opinions of Stalin: the latter was a man of limited intelligence and poor writing skills, who betrayed the socialist project and embodied the bureaucracy in himself. Far less often do we hear of Stalin’s views on Trotsky. Since I have recently read through Stalin’s works in some detail, let me offer an impression of his perspective on what was often a very personal conflict.

‘Pretty but useless’ (Stalin 1907 [1953], 52). This was Stalin’s first impression of...

Bulgarian joke: communism is back in power

Yesterday, avisiting comrade from the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) told us this popular joke from Bulgaria:

A woman wakes in the middle of the night and sits up in bed. She leaps out of bed and rushes to look in the medicine cabinet. She runs to the kitchen to open the refrigerator. She turns to the window, opens it and and looks out on the street. Breathing a sigh of relief, she returns to bed.

Wakened by her frantic activity, her husband asks, ‘what’s wrong?’

‘I had a...

Chinese attitudes to life and economics

Despite all that has been written about the economic powerhouse that China is becoming, the basic approach to life and economics remains largely the same. A recent survey of Chinese women produced the following results:

65.23% subscribe to ‘jianku pusu, jingda xisuan’: a hard and simple life requires careful calculation and strict budgetting.

19.45 % prefer ‘meiyou jihua, suibian hua’: random spending without plan.

11.19 % follow ‘sheng duoshao, hua duoshao’: spend as much as you earn.

Only 4...